


A Cruel Mercy

by Illeana Starbright (SunlightOnTheWater)



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5872609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunlightOnTheWater/pseuds/Illeana%20Starbright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are far too many children on the Raza considering the fact that they're supposed be ruthless mercenaries, and somehow Marcus has found himself invested in their continuing survival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Stowaways

_That kid is_ not _Jace Corso_ , Marcus Boone thought, gritting his teeth together as he watched the newest member of their crew cautiously converse with Griffin Jones. The kid in question was trembling slightly, which had Jones doing absolutely everything he could to avoid startling the _Raza_ 's newest crew member. It wasn't helping. The boy was twitchy and paranoid, eyes darting around in an attempt to keep track of everyone moving about the ship in preparation for their departure. The nervous behavior was probably due to the fact that the young man in question was, without a doubt, not Jace Corso. He might have looked enough like the killer and gun smuggler for hire to pass the Android's facial scan but, to someone who knew Corso, the behavior was all wrong. Marcus had worked with Corso several times before he'd joined the crew of the _Raza_. He'd known the other man probably as well as anyone could claim to know Corso. That was why he could say, with utter certainty, that this was not Corso.

The impostor was far too young, for one thing. Corso was in his early thirties, but this kid couldn't been any older than sixteen. Corso had never been this twitchy either. He'd been slightly paranoid, but every criminal in the universe had some degree of paranoia lingering about them because anyone might turn them in for a reward, however he'd never been this jumpy. Any more twitching and this kid would snap his back in half, which meant they'd be hanging around this hole-in-the-wall space station until Portia Lin and the Android could find a replacement that matched up to their specifications. Probably they'd be looking for more than one new crew member because Ryo Tetsuda, exiled prince, would likely walk off without them, leaving them two people short.

"Are the parts for the Marauder here?" Portia called, approaching them while the Android remained at the dock to field any possible questions or stall investigators that might want to take a look at the cargo.

"Just got the message that the shipment came in," Griffin replied easily, stepping away from the nervous Jace Corso impersonator. "I'll go pick 'em up."

"I'll come with you," Portia said, turning to look at Marcus and the kid. "You two, load up the provisions sitting outside. And Marcus..."

"Yes, darling?" he drawled, arching his eyebrows at her.

"Please don't talk to anyone," she said, expression stern but the barest hint of a smile in her eyes. "I don't want to come back and find out that you've gotten our newest crew member arrested."

"That was only once," Marcus protested. "And Lucie deserved it." Lucie Aberdeen, the crew member that the kid was replacing, had been a whiny, bossy, tiny little girl with brilliant, bubblegum pink streaks through her washed out, bottle blonde hair. She'd been a good shot with a pistol, but otherwise she'd relegated herself to being a pain in the ass.

Portia rolled her eyes, not caring whether or not Lucie had deserved to be arrested on her first day as a member of the _Raza_ 's crew, and headed down the ramp with Griffin on her heels. She paused at the bottom and turned back to say, "If Ryo comes out of his room, tell him that we're leaving the station in an hour, with or without him." Then the two of them vanished into the lower class crowd, leaving Marcus alone with the kid. If he'd had any doubt whether or not the kid was Jace Corso or not, the look aimed at him would have washed it away. Corso had never looked at Marcus as if he was wondering if the other man was going to disembowel him and laugh while the kid died a slow and painful death.

"You grab one end of the supply box, I'll grab the other, and we'll wheel it in," Marcus said gruffly, brushing by the kid, ignoring the startled flinch as he headed down the ramp.

After a moment of hesitation, the kid made his way down the ramp and helped Marcus roll up the first of the supply crates. They worked in silence, rolling each of the crates into storage while the Android smiled at anyone who glanced in their general direction. The robotic woman was, by far, the friendliest member of the _Raza_ 's crew. She was the one who dealt with ordinary people the crew ran into when docking on space stations or wary planets belonging to prospectors or farmers who didn't work for one of the mega-corporations. People were right not to trust the crew of the _Raza_ , but it was easier to do their jobs if they could dock peacefully, especially if they wanted to spend their money at space stations.

"I think this is the last of them," Marcus grumbled as they pushed what felt like the hundredth metal container up the ramp and into the storage bay.

"Y-Yeah," the kid stuttered when he realized that the mercenary was waiting for an answer.

"Good. Follow me then. I'll show you to one of the unused sleep quarters on board." The kid nodded and trailed after Marcus, the pair making their way into the ship.

The _Raza_ was in pretty good shape, considering that their last two jobs hadn't turned out too well. One had gone south quickly when the locals they'd been sent to eliminate on a planet had turned out to be employees of another mega-corp and the second one had been a salvage that had been snatched up by salvage workers before the _Raza_ could get there to retrieve the stolen freight. Neither one had resulted in the agreed upon payment, although they managed to weasel some compensation out of the man who had assigned the elimination job, so money was running low. Hopefully their next job would have a good price tag attached to it so they could get individual paychecks. Marcus was tired of spending all their cash on supplies and fuel for the ship.

"Here," he said, stopping in front of the door and hitting the control panel. "You can program whatever password you want into the panel. If you can't figure out how to, ask the Android." Then he turned and headed down the hall towards his own room. Portia hadn't wanted to discuss the detail of their latest job until they were off the space station and away from possible listening ears. That meant it was going to be a task that required Marcus's weapons to be in their best shape. It was likely that they'd been hired by a mega-corp to eliminate settlers who were standing in the way of their acquisition of a planet they needed for some form of natural resources. That was never something to be discussed when the common people might overhear the conversation.

The _Raza_ 's engines rumbled to life and the Android announced that they were leaving over the ship's PA system. Whoever had programmed this particular intelligent machine had designed her to be as annoying as possible when it came to the volume of announcements she made over the PA system. Some days Marcus really wanted to shoot the Android, but that wasn't worth facing the wrath of Portia to do so. She was ridiculously fond of the ship's Android, regardless of the fact that she could do everything the Android could, making the annoying hunk of designer metal unnecessary.

Marcus stepped onto the bridge of the ship, crossing over to where the Android was standing respectfully in the back, out of the way as Portia steered them away from the space station with one hand and worked on the calculations for the jump to FTL with the other. "I'm going to do a little digging on the computer in my room," he informed the Android. "Erase any record of it when I'm done, and don't tell Portia about it."

"If you wanted to look for something secretly, it would have been better to do so while we were at the space station. The data record would have been buried among the thousands of other data records that exist there," the Android informed him and Marcus scowled.

"Just do it," he snapped, voice a little louder than he would have liked, and sent a furtive glance Portia's direction. Until he figured out what was going on, he didn't want Portia to find out that the kid was an impostor. If the kid was someone important, throwing him out of an airlock could be a bad move for all of them.

"Okay," the Android agreed, not at all phased by Marcus's tone.

Marcus nodded at Portia, who had turned to look his direction, and walked back towards his own room, which was just down the hall to the kid's. He was just typing in the code to unlock the door when he heard footsteps heading down a hall towards the infirmary. That didn't make any sense. Ryo was either locked away in his room, brooding over the past, or training in his designated practice room, and even if he was wandering around, Marcus wouldn't be able to hear him, and the kid was probably having a panic attack in his room. Furthermore, he'd just left Portia and the Android on the bridge, and the footsteps sounded too light to belong to Griffin. That left only one option. Quickly cancelling the unlock process, Marcus rested his head carefully on the door. Just what they needed, a stowaway to go with their Jace Corso impostor.

Walking down any hallway in the _Raza_ quietly was a challenge, considering that the flooring was metal. Marcus wasn't sure how Ryo managed to move so silently all the time but, knowing the other man, the question would probably merit some stupidly zen response such as, "Once you have control over the mind, control over the body is simple." While Marcus didn't have the control over his body that Ryo did, he still managed to move relatively quietly down the hall and around the corner, only to be confronted by blue and green hair. The girl was tiny and making her way cautiously down the hall and into the infirmary. Marcus didn't have a clue how she'd gotten on board their ship, but he didn't need the added complication. Better to toss her out the airlock now and focus on the fake Jace Corso.

"Well, well, well," he drawled, stepping into the infirmary. "What do we have here?" The girl spun around with a gasp, eyes wide, but Marcus was already striding forward to grab her arm and drag her out of the room. She stumbled along beside him, face pale and eyes huge. "A stowaway? Maybe an addict?"

"I'm not an addict," she snapped but Marcus wasn't convinced. He couldn't tell if there were needle marks on her arms, since her sleeves covered them, but he had seen her slip a couple glass jars of medicine into her pockets after a quick investigation.

"W-What are you doing?" she stammered as Marcus before tapping on a keypad, opening the first set of doors to the airlock.

"I'm going to space you," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

" _What?_ " she yelped, eyes going even wider. " _Wait,_ wouldn't the rest of the the crew object to you throwing a girl out of an airlock?"

"You don't know my crew," Marcus replied pragmatically as the doors hissed open.

He shoved her inside and was turning back to the panel when the girl yelped, " _Wait_ ," again. He turned back to her expectantly, hand hovering over the panel. He wasn't going to let her out, but he could use some entertainment after the way this day had gone. "I can pay you," she said and his eyebrows rose towards his forehead. Dressed in a thrown together outfit of clothes that didn't quite fit her, the girl didn't look like she had enough money to bribe a corrupt station officer, let alone to pay Marcus to forget she was on the ship. "I have some kind of a chip. I'm not sure what it is, but the man I stole it from killed all my friends trying to get it back, so it must be valuable."

Marcus considered what she was saying for a moment, but decided against taking her word for it. He turned back to the keypad and the girl made a pleading sounding noise. "If you space me, you'll never find it."

He turned away from the keypad to look her directly in the eye as the doors hissed shut. "I can live with that."

"Please don't do this," the girl called through the door, running forward and pounding her small fists on the door. " _Please_."

Marcus hesitated a moment, stepping back from the keypad and considering his options. Ordinarily he'd just space the problem and move on, but things were different with Sarah locked away in the vault. If she found out that he'd spaced a little girl once he found a way to cure her, she'd probably take one of his guns and shoot him somewhere incredibly painful. That wasn't an experience he was eager to have, especially since he might be in love with her. As the girl continued to bang on the door and yell for help, Marcus heard footsteps rapidly approaching.

"What's going on?" the Jace Corso impersonator asked from the hallway. "Why is there a girl in the airlock?"

"She's a stowaway," Marcus replied turning to face him. "And this is what we do to stowaways on the _Raza_."

The kid hesitated, visible struggling with himself for a moment before clenching his fists and scowling stubbornly at Marcus. "Let her out."

"Alright," Marcus said with a lazy grin. "I'll let her out. And then we'll all go explain to Portia that she crept on board the ship and you aren't really Jace Corso." The kid paled, seeming to lose his nerve, and Marcus turned back to the keypad, mind made up. He'd just hit the first button when a brutal kick to his side sent him stumbling away. He turned to see the kid standing between him and the control panel, face pale but determined.

"I'm not letting you kill another innocent girl," the kid hissed.

" _Another_ innocent girl?" Marcus asked, eyebrows rising towards his hairline. "What are you talking about kid?"

"You know what I'm talking about," the kid snarled, aiming a punch at Marcus's face. Marcus caught the fist in his hand, startled by how much strength was behind the blow. He closed his hand over the kid's fist, holding firm even when the kid struggled to pull his fist free.

"No, I don't," he replied as levelly as he could manage. "So enlighten me. You owe me at least that much."

"I don't owe you anything," the kid snarled, trying to yank his hand back again. In response, Marcus pinned him to the wall.

"Tell me what I'm _supposed to_ have done or I'll space you with the girl," he threatened, tired of this little song and dance, and the kid gulped.

"Y-You..." the kid stuttered. "You killed my s-sister."

"Killed you sister?" Marcus asked, confused. The kid was in his teens, and Marcus doubted that the kid's sister had been much older. Furthermore, he didn't remember ever shooting a teenage girl. He threatened to shoot a couple, but he'd never actually gone through with it. "Who was your sister?"

"Catherine Moss," came the soft, defeated reply. The kid was looking down at his feet, shoulders slumped.

"How long ago?" Marcus demanded. The name sounded familiar, but he didn't want to guess. He wanted to know for sure that the kid was talking about the incident Marcus thought he was talking about.

"Two years ago." The kid glanced up hesitantly at Marcus, who winced.

Two years ago had been the job that had gone south fast. It had been a collaborative mission on behalf of Ferrous Corporation, involving the crew of the _Raza_ and a few other, less well known mercenary groups. They'd been hired to take down a paramilitary defense group that was acting as resistance to Ferrous Corp's attempts to obtain it. There had been a few members of a tiny paramilitary sect present, but most of the armed resistance had been nervous locals who had crumbled when they'd realized that they had lost. Catherine Moss had been one of the few, unfortunate casualties of that mission. The true tragedy had been that the young woman had been putting down her weapon when a loudmouth, pink haired mercenary from another crew had gotten trigger happy and killed her. Marcus had taken her ID and looked up her name on the nearest space station database, just out of curiosity. Okay, and maybe a little sympathy had colored his actions, but he hadn't been able to act on it. His attempts to locate Derrick Moss had come up empty until, apparently, now.

_"Attention crew members_ ," Portia's voice said over the PA, stopping whatever Marcus was going to say in its tracks. _"Please hook into a stasis pod immediately. I repeat, please hook into a stasis pod immediately."_ Then there was a click as she shut off the PA, probably with a fist.

Marcus released the kid, stepping back and turning away. "Let the girl out or space her. I don't care," he snapped. "Just get your ass into one of the stasis pods." Then he turned and sprinted towards the bridge. He wanted to find out what exactly had gone wrong before he went into stasis.


	2. One: Blank Slates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young man wakes up in a stasis pod with no memory of who he is or how he got there.

He woke to alarms blaring and his stasis pod venting the chemicals that kept him asleep and alive once he was properly shut inside. He blinked his eyes rapidly and pushed the door open as soon as possible, stumbling out and gasping for breath. The hallway he was in was dark, aside from gentle lights under the flooring to help someone navigate during the night cycle on the ship and the flashing lights that accompanied the screeching alarms. "Venting atmosphere," a clinical sounding female voice announced over a PA system. "Internal atmospheric levels at thirty percent."

The young man mouthed a rude word and ran down the hall, hoping he was heading towards the ship's bridge instead of just having his brain play a cruel trick on him by making him think that the bridge was in that direction. His first few steps were wobbly and uncertain, but after a couple feet they started working correctly. He made two left turns and then a right one before pausing in front of a large door. It hissed open at the tap of a button and the young man found himself halting in front of a control panel. Red warnings were flashing all over a computer screen and his fingers hovered uncertainly over the buttons as the calm voice announced again, "Venting atmosphere. Internal atmospheric levels at twenty percent."

A bare foot slammed into his side, sending him toppling to the ground with a low, startled cry. A woman with long, dark hair was standing where he'd just been, leaning over the control panel, and he lashed out almost automatically. His heart was pounding frantically in his chest as he swept his leg out, knocking her feet out from under her. She hit the ground, hand stopping her fall, and rolled smoothly to her feet, sending him skittering back with his hands and legs. He dropped down, avoiding the first kick she aimed at his chest, and rolled away from the second blow, scrambling to his feet. A punch caught him in the shoulder and he managed to block a second one on his forearm, the impact rattling up the appendage to rattle his teeth.

The woman swept his feet out from under him, sending him toppling to the ground again with a grunt of pain. He twisted to the side, dodging an open handed strike, but her foot hit him hard in the stomach, knocking all the air out of him. As he struggled to catch his breath on the floor, she strode back to the main control panel, fingers confidently flying across the keys as the mechanical voice announced, "Venting atmosphere. Internal atmospheric levels at ten percent." Struggling for air, the young man could only hope that the woman knew what she was doing. If she didn't, they'd both be dead soon.

"Internal atmosphere restored," the female voice announced and he felt relief wash over him as he finally got his breath back. He found the woman turning to look at him, gaze wary and hands held loose at her sides, ready to attack if necessary.

"How'd you do that?" he manage to get out, no longer gasping to pull in enough air to survive, and she relaxed slightly. That was when the door to his left hissed open, revealing a man with a pistol in each hand.

The young man shrank back against the cold metal of the floor with a little whimper, panic rushing through him. _I'm going to die_ , he thought, heart rising to his throat and choking him, as the woman's body braced for a fight. _All that training, and I'm still going to die like a rat in a cage._

"Who are you?" the man demanded, looking between the two with cold eyes.

The young man panicked, turning his head to look with wide eyes at the woman, who was staring back at him. "I don't know," they both said at the same time before turning back to look at the man with the weapons.

"Who are _you_?" the woman demanded when he looked skeptical while the young man debated on whether or not he could make it to cover without being shot.

"I have no idea," the man admitted, cautiously putting the guns away. "You gonna get up off the floor, kid?" The young man cautiously did, not feeling remotely safe. His heart was still jumping up in his throat as his cautious gaze jumped between the other two people in the room. His brain was still screaming danger at him, insisting that he was about to be shot at any moment. He thought that maybe the whole situation would be less terrifying if he understood why he thought that, but he couldn't ever remember his name, let alone why he thought two of his own crew members would have a valid reason to kill him.

"There are other stasis pods on the ship that are occupied," the woman said, her tone business like. "We should wake the others up and see if they know what's going on."

"After you, sweetheart," the man with the guns said and the woman shook her head before sweeping past him. When the young man hesitated uncertainly, the man smiled mockingly and asked, "Are you coming, kid? We don't have all day." The young man scowled but slipped cautiously past his armed crewman and into the hall, following the woman's retreating back. Having someone behind him sent warning signals prickling between his shoulder blades and made his stomach twist uncomfortably, but there was nothing he could really do about it. He wasn't about to fight a guy with a gun over who got to walk down the hall in what order.

The first filled stasis pod they reached had an Asian looking man in it whose transition from sleep to being fully alert was far smoother and quicker than the young man remembered his own transition being. "Do you know who you are?" the armed man demanded. The Asian man considered the question for a moment and then shook his head once, stepping calmly out of his stasis pod.

The next pod had a girl inside with hair died the approximate color of a peacock's tail. Her eyes went wide when she saw them all, darting around frantically until they landed on the young man, who was lingering towards the back of the group. He had purposefully put the Asian man between himself and the man with the gun in an effort to push some of his unease away. It hadn't worked. "W-What's going on?" the girl stuttered as soon as she was free from the stasis pod, arms wrapped around her chest. "W-Where am I?"

"You're on a ship with the rest of us," the woman replied gently. "Do you remember your name? Or anything about your past?"

"No," the girl replied, eyes huge. "I don't even know how I ended up here." She turned those wide eyes to the only other kid on board the ship but he found himself unable to hold her gaze.

"Everything will be just fine," the woman said, though her tone wasn't exactly reassuring. "Come on. We have one more stasis pod to check." Then she pushed past the watching crowd, heading for the last stasis pod. A dark skinned man was the one slumbering in the last pod. He was slightly taller and broader than anyone else on board the ship, but he came alert almost immediately, eyes snapping from person to person. He eased the door of his stasis pod open but remained inside, waiting for someone to say something. "Do you remember your name?" the woman asked, all business.

"No," he said, confusion written all over his face.

"Apparently you're in good company," the man with the guns drawled. "None of the rest of us do either." He got scowled at by the woman who'd fixed up the ship for his troubles, not that it seemed to bother him.

"Let's search the main body of the ship," she said, the phrase sounding more like an order than a suggestion. "Come on." Then she turned on her heel and marched out of the stasis pod area, heading towards the main hallway that the young man had run down just a half an hour before. His side still ached from where he'd landed on the floor of the bridge when their current leader had knocked him out of her way.

Heading the opposite direction of the bridge, they encountered the catwalk over a large room. Once down the stairs they found crates, probably containing whatever they might have been shipping across galaxies, and several lockers to store the equipment of crew members. They spread out across the room, the space allowing the young man to breathe easier. The girl with the peacock hair was closest to him, sitting on top of one of the crates and swinging her feet back and forth. The woman was investigating one of the lockers while the only armed member of the crew was investigating one of the locked crates. "There are some clothes here, if anyone is feeling under dressed," the woman said and the peacock haired girl jumped off the crate to grab a light jacket, slipping it over her shirt.

"What do you think we were shipping?" the dark skinned man questioned. "Trade goods? Agricultural supplies?"

"Let's find out," the armed man replied and startled banging on the lock of one of the boxes.

"We need names," the young man said suddenly, looking down at the ground and tensing when he felt eyes looking at him. "At least for now."

"Maybe we could go be numbered by the order we woke up," the peacock haired girl suggested brightly.

"That will work, for now," the woman said after a moment of consideration. "That makes you One," she motioned to the young man. "and me Two, him Three-" with a gesture towards the man working on the locked box. "-him Four-" the Asian man "-her Five, and him Six." She motioned to the peacock haired girl and the dark skinned man in turn.

"Now that we've figured out who we're gonna be," Three drawled, removing the broken lock from the chest. "Why don't we find out what we're shipping?" One made his way cautiously over with the others as Three flipped out the box, letting out a pleased sounding whistle. "Now this is more like it!"

One flinched back as Three pulled out the long, bulky barrel of a gun, grinning at it and cradling it close like it was a baby. One's vision flashed and he rocked back on his heels as the world turned white. _The white faded away and One found himself standing in the doorway, chest heaving as he silently gasped for breath, looking at Three. Two's voice was on the PA, saying "All crew members need to hook into their stasis pod for their own safety, now," in a supremely annoyed tone._

_"I'll get there in a minute," Three snarled in the general direction of the ceiling, carefully settling his weapons in their designated places in a lock box. One felt himself twitch, torn between obeying the order and getting answers. Three solved the problem for him, slamming down the lid on the lock box and attaching an electronic lock on it before turning and frowning at the sight of One standing in the doorway. "I told you to get your ass into one of those fucking stasis pods!" he snarled, making One shrink back against the door, forgetting to breathe for a moment. He knew that he shouldn't be afraid, his training had given him the ability to take pretty much anyone who threatened him down, but fear wasn't rational, so it still rose up to strangle him._

_"Y-You, uh," One stammered, struggling to get the words through the iron band slowly going tighter around his throat. "You said you didn't kill my sister." The thought of Catherine, lying dead with her eyes staring blankly at the darkening sky and her chest stained with sticky, drying blood, strangled him completely, leaving him shivering against the door frame._

_"Oh for..." Three strode forward to grab One's arm and his vision blazed white again._

One blinked against the light and swayed a bit, shaking clear of the vision. "Are you okay?" Five whispered to him as Two argued with Three over whether or not it was ethical to take some of the weapons they were shipping for their own.

"Y-Yeah," One stuttered back, trying to figure out what had just happened. Had he just had some kind of vision of something that was going to happen or had that been a memory floating back to the surface for a minute? He doubted that he'd get an answer any time soon. "How long have they been arguing?" he asked Five hesitantly as Two and Three's discussion grew in volume.

"I dunno," came the unbothered reply. "Maybe five minutes?" She smiled brightly at him and jumped up on another box, humming cheerfully under her breath.

One sighed and scanned the boxes surrounding him, wondering which crate was the one he'd seen Three putting his guns into. If that vision had been a memory, then the crate had to be around here somewhere. His eyes fell on the lock that Three had removed from the crate and he frowned. That looked an awful lot like the lock Three had been putting on his lock box in One's vision. "Until we know more about our situation, we shouldn't take anything out of our shipment," Two was arguing, hands on her hips.

"Listen, _sweetheart_ ," Three sneered. "We're in an unknown situation with who knows how many people looking to put our asses in the ground. It'd moronic not to arm ourselves with whatever we can. Besides, how do you know that these aren't our weapons?"

"Why would they be locked away if they didn't belong to us?" Two snapped back, not looking at all convinced by Three's arguments.

"Actually," One cut in hesitantly. "I think Three might be right." His muscles tensed when Two turned to look at him, but he forced himself not to back down. "That was the only case with a lock on it, and it doesn't make any sense for the crates we were shipping to be locked up so that whoever purchased the weapons wouldn't be able to access them."

"You gotta admit, the kid has a point," Three said smugly, slinging the strap of the big gun over his shoulders so that the weapon rested across his back.

"Fine," Two said with a huff. "Grab a weapon if you want one." Five slid off the crate she'd been sitting on and bounced forward to retrieve a weapon, only to have Two grab her arm. "Not you," the dark haired woman said and Five pouted for a moment before slumping against Two's side. Two looked startled for a moment but cautiously settled her arm around Five's shoulders as Six stepped around them to take an automatic weapon. Four took one as well, while One stayed out of the way, fairly certain that Two would protest him having a weapon as well, because he was pretty sure that he wasn't much older than Five.

"Here." One startled as Three shoved a pistol and holster at him. When One didn't move, Three arched an eyebrow at him and smacked the weapon into One's chest. One caught the pistol before it crashed to the floor, staring at Three in complete confusion.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked, throwing caution to the wind for the moment.

"Shoot something," Three replied dryly. "Preferably not one of us, but I'll take what I can get from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" One demanded as Three turned to shoot a challenging look at Two.

"It means I don't think you have the guts to shoot someone," Three said, tossing a smug grin over his shoulder before turning back to Two. She sighed, looking resigned, but didn't comment on the fact that One was holding a potentially lethal weapon. "Need anything else, Boss Lady, or can I do some exploring?"

"Take Six with you," Two ordered, making Three grumble under his breath as he headed for the stairs. "And grab one of these comms." She held out a box as Three stalked back, grabbed one of the ear pieces and then stalked back towards the stairs again. Six shrugged and followed after Three, gun carefully in hand. Two turned to the others and added, "Four, One, why don't you check out the opposite side of the ship that Six and Three are searching. Five and I will go to the bridge and see if we can figure out what's working and what isn't."

Four nodded and headed for the staircase that Six and Three hadn't taken, One strapping on the holster of his gun and following after the older man. He rested a hand on the pistol as Four soundless made his way down the hall, feeling strangely nervous. He doubted that there was anyone else on board the ship but, without his memories, he couldn't know for sure. The gun at his hip was a surprisingly comforting weight, and One debated with himself on whether or not he should figure out how to subtly thank Three.

Four moved like he was floating over the metal flooring rather than walking on it. One was fairly stealthy on his bare feet, but Four was a ghost and every noise One heard himself make made him cringe. The last thing Four probably wanted was to be paired with a kid who couldn't even get close to matching how silently he moved. If they ran into anything, it would have heard them coming from a long ways off. He stumbled a bit, the sound especially loud, and cringed when Four glanced back at him. "Sorry," he apologized, glancing down at his feet.

"Moving silently requires practice and control over one's body," Four told him, tone gentler than One would have expected. By the time the young man looked up, Four was slipping softly around a corner, leaving One scrambling to catch up.

The two of them had stepped into some sort of weapons room, One lingering in the doorway while Four looked over the weapons. The man reverently lifted two swords from a rack, holding them naturally as he crossed to stand in the open center of the room. Each of his movements looked fluid and practiced, as if his muscles remembered what his brain did not. The elegant dance drew One cautiously into the room, his eyes following the whirling movements of Four's blades. His breath caught in his throat as Four spun on the balls of his feet, blades coming up towards his throat. He blinked, flinching back, and suddenly...

_He was in a completely white room, reeling back as a blade sliced a thin line across his cheek. He lifted a hand, staunching the flow of blood, and turned wide eyes on the girl who attacked him. "W-Why did you do that?" he whimpered, moving his hand away from his cheek and glancing at the blood staining his fingers. The sight made his stomach roll and he doubled over, gagging and heaving. If there had been anything in his stomach, he would have vomited it onto the clean white tile floor._

_"Strength comes through pain," the girl replied, tossing her sleek, dark braid over her shoulder. "If you cannot handle the pain which comes from each lesson, then you should not be here."_

One blinked back into reality to find himself cringing against the back wall while Four studied him swords held loosely at his sides. One struggled to think of something to say, but the words wouldn't come, and Four wasn't exactly talkative. The man's eyes were considering as he turned away, sheathing the swords as a startled yell echoed in their ears.

"What's going on?" Five warbled over the comms.

"One of the ship's defense protocols has been activated," Two said, voice worried but determined.

"Can you shut it off?" Six asked, voice strangled and pained.

"I'm working on it," Two replied. "Four, One, go give Six and Three a hand. I'll direct you. Head down the hallway and take a right."

Four sprinted out of the room and down a hall, One racing after him. Two directed them down two more hallways and into a room, just in time to see a woman with short blonde hair and what appeared to be some kind of black Braille tattoo on her neck throwing Six across the room. Four moved forward, unsheathing his sword and sending a slice blindingly fast towards the woman who spun equally fast and caught the sword between her palms, wrenching it away from her. Four dodged the strike that followed, which left One directly in the path of the blonde woman. She stepped forward and he snapped out a kick at her side almost automatically.

The blow never connected. The woman grabbed his foot and flung him, sending him flying straight into Three's stomach. The gun toting man had just been rousing himself and let out a grunt of pain when One hit him. The young man was too dazed to protest when Three shoved him face first into the floor. He was barely focused enough to catch himself with his hands as the woman turned her attention towards Four. The sword wielding man was dodging the woman's blows, focused on defense rather than offensive maneuvers, and they were never going to defeat the blonde woman that way. "We need to distract her," he hissed and Three snorted.

"How do you expect us to do that?" Three demanded and One felt his shoulders tense. His head was still spinning a little as he rose, hoping that Four was as in control of his weapon as he had been before. If Four wasn't, then One was about to lose a limb.

One lashed out, landing a solid punch on the woman's shoulder. The blow didn't seem to shake her at all, but she did turn to face him. Her hand moved faster than One could dodge, an open handed blow to the chest sending him crashing back into the wall to slump next to Six, struggling for breath. The woman was advancing on them when Three got in the way, lifting one of his pistols up to aim at the woman's chest. "T-Two?" One wheezed out frantically as the blonde woman wrapped her hand around Three's pistol, wrenching it away and tossing it to the ground. Then she wrapped her hand around his throat, lifting him up off the ground. "H-Hurry!"

"I'm almost finished," Two's voice replied as Four appeared almost out of thin air to slice the woman's hand off at the wrist. One managed a gasp, expecting to see blood gushing everywhere as Two triumphantly called, "Got it!" Instead they saw a small shower of sparks and the woman stilled, eyes turning completely black.

"That was an android?" Three rasped, rubbing his throat, and One let out a shaky sound of agreement, still struggling to catch his breath. "Why the fuck did we have an android on board that would try to kill us if we activated her?"

"I don't know Three," Two replied calmly. "Why don't you bring the android to the medical bay and we'll find out what's going on with her?" Two's tone made it obvious that she was giving them a suggestion they were expected them to obey.

Three rolled his eyes as Four cautiously approached the android and One flopped back against the floor, going limp with relief. He startled a moment later when a foot nudged him relatively gently in the stomach. He glanced up to see Three looming over him, all his weapons carefully in place. "Are you planning on getting up any time soon?" Three question, eyebrows arched up towards his hairline.

"The floor's nice," One replied cautiously, voice still raspy from his struggle for oxygen.

Three snorted in response and leaned down to grab One's arm, pulling him up. "Come on, kid. We're gonna need your help to get Six and the murder robot back to Two and Five."

One wobbled a bit on the way up, surprised when Three hung around to make sure One wasn't going to collapse again before nudging him over the help Four with the android. "Grab her hand," Four called to Three as he and One hefted the android's surprisingly light body into their arms. Three muttered something rude under his breath but did as he was told while carefully helping stabilize Six and keep the still woozy man upright. It was going to take the four of them a while to get to the medical ward, Five, and Two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So episode one is now two chapters. I may need to rethink this whole, one episode per chapter thing.


	3. Two: First Contact

One lurked near the doorway of the medical bay as Two waited for the computer to finish scanning the android. The android's hand was almost completely reattached and the data chip that activated her was sitting next to a computer screen. Five was seated on the edge of another cot with Six standing next to her, the two of them talking quietly, while Four leaned against the back wall. Three was pacing back and forth in the empty space between One and the android, irritated about having to wait for results but unwilling to miss possible action. One watched them all warily, head throbbing dully. The headache was probably from the blow to his chest that had winded him earlier, but it also might have something to do with the visions he'd had. Something that unusual had to have side effects, and he didn't think they were a normal occurrence for him. Of course he couldn't even remember his own name, so the visions might be a completely natural part of his life.

The computer beeped and Two crossed over to it, studying the readout silently. " _Well?_ " Three demanded impatiently, stopping in mid step and folding his arms over his chest.

"She's an extremely advanced artificial intelligence," Two replied calmly, still looking at the screen.

Three gave her a look that said he could have figured that out for himself, but Two didn't notice, still scanning whatever information the scan had given her. Noticing that, Three snapped, "I don't care how advanced she is, she almost killed One and Six, and she tried to kill me and Four, so give me one good reason why we shouldn't space her."

"She has a neural link to this ship," Two said, looking away from the screen to glare at him. "Spacing her would be destroying our best chance to discover what happened to us and where we were taking our shipment." Apparently under the impression that her statement ended the debate, Two picked up the android's chip and crossed the room to stand next to her.

"Whoa, whoa," Three called, spinning to fully face her and pulling out one of his guns. "What are you doing?"

"Activating her," Two replied calmly, looking as if she didn't understand why this was such a big deal.

One twitched at the hiss of one of Four's swords being drawn and exchanged a wide eyed, worried look with Five, who'd shrank back so that Six was shielding her from whatever would happen next. Her lips were pulled into a thin, frightened line and her hands were twisting anxiously in the fabric of her jacket. The sight made One's anxiety rise and he forced his gaze away, straightening slightly so he could see past Three's back to keep track of what was going on. "You are not bringing that thing back on line," Six said, protesting for the first time since they'd arrived in the medical bay. "She's already attacked us once and I'm not eager to have it happen again. Especially not with the kids around."

"It will be perfectly safe," came Two's response. "I removed her defense protocols from the chip while we waited for the results of the scan."

"And how do we know you're telling the truth?" Three challenged.

"Why would I have a reason to want any of you dead?" was Two's level reply.

"I don't know," Three replied. "But we only have your word that you don't want us dead. You could by lying."

"Why would I bother to lie to you?" Two questioned, folding her arms over her chest, chip in hand. "I can't remember anything before waking up when we were venting atmosphere."

"And once again, we're taking your word for that," Three drawled, not backing down. One could practically feel the tension in the air and he shifted into a more ready stance. Behind Six, Five curled into a little ball in an effort to make herself a smaller target.

"Right now, we're taking everyone at their word," Two told her with forced patience.

Three gave her a feral looking smile in response. "I'm not."

Two tensed, bracing herself, and One felt his own body shifting in response. Two was getting into a position more suited to combat, which had One's senses screaming at him to be ready for anything. "This proves nothing," Four's voice snapped, drawing Two's attention away from a smug looking Three.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" One hissed at Three as Two demanded to know what Four suggested they do.

"Just trying to prove a point," Three replied smugly, hand still resting on his gun.

"Put the chip in," Four said, catching everyone's attention. "The rest of us will remained armed so that, if you are being less than truthful, we can eliminate the threat."

"Is that satisfactory?" Two questioned pointedly, arching a thin eyebrow at Three.

"Fine by me," came Three's blithe reply. "But if this turns out to be a trick, you'll be the first person I shoot." Two ignored the comment, turning towards the android and carefully slipping the chip back into its correct slot. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the android's eyes opened and she sat up in one, smooth motion.

"Hello," she said, seeming unperturbed by the fact that the crew around her was aiming various weapons at her.

"Hello," Two replied calmly.

The android glanced around at the group when no one else responded, expression patiently curious. "How may I help you?" she asked at last, turning back to Two.

"You can tell us whether or not you're planning on attacking us," Six spoke up and the android turned her head and body slightly so that she could face him, seemingly unbothered by the fact that guns shifted to follow her movement.

"Why would I attack you?" the android questioned, tone genuinely curious.

"You tell us," Three chimed in sourly. "You already did once."

The android turned again, weapons following her motion again, and said, "I have no memory of that event."

"So you say," Three grumbled and Two scowled at him, folding her arms over her chest before turning back to face the android.

"The computer says that you can create a neural link between yourself and this ship," Two told the android.

"That is correct," the android replied.

"Do so," Two ordered and the android closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and looking expectantly at Two. "Search for any record of this ship's crew."

The android closed her eyes again, this time for a slightly longer period. One found himself holding his breath, heart pounding as if he was afraid of what the android would uncover with her search. As if he had something to hide from the other members of the crew. When the android opened her eyes, he forced himself to take a breath, hand resting on the door frame to support his slightly swaying body. "No such data exists."

For a moment there was complete silence as they all absorbed that information. One felt a wave of inexplicable relief wash through him, a whisper in the back of his head excitedly chanting thank you because _he hadn't been caught_. "How is that even possible?" Six asked after a moment of stunned silence. "Ships normally keep records of everything, from whose on the crew all the way down to exact information on every single item on board." No one questioned how Six had known that. Just like Two's ability to stop the ship from venting atmosphere, they assumed it was something buried in Six's subconscious and moved on.

"Search for the rest of the ship's records," Two ordered, expression grim.

Once again, the android closed her eyes, scanning the information she could get through the connection to the ship, and then said, "No such data exists."

" _Great_ ," Three said, throwing his hands in the air in a motion that caught everyone's attention. "We're floating through space with no memories, no information on who we are or who might be after us, and no idea where we're supposed to be going."

"Actually that is incorrect," the android said before Two could snap back at Three. "We know our destination."

"What?" One questioned, startled. His voice mixed in with Six and Five's voices, got lost under them so that Three was the only one who'd noticed he'd spoken.

"Someone attempted to completely erasing the ship's data," the android informed them in her matter-of-fact tone. "While much of the data is completely corrupted, and thus, irretrievable, I was able to recover our destination and direct the ship on the correct course. We should arrive in six hours."

"Can you retrieve any more of the ship's data?" Two questioned, irritation at Three vanishing from her face to leave it a cool, blank mask again.

"It would take time, but I would be able to retrieve some of the ship's records," the android replied.

"Do it," Two ordered and the android nodded, closing her eyes to, no doubt, start the process. "The rest of you, explore or find a place to get some rest. We'll be arriving at our destination in six hours."

"Who put you in charge?" Three demanded even as Five settled more comfortably on the medical bed she'd been sitting on.

"I did," Two replied coolly, turning to the android immediately after so that he didn't have a chance to respond. "Come with me to the bridge." The android nodded and stood, One shrinking back against the doorway nervously so they could brush past him. Four sheathed his sword and followed them, pausing to nod at One as if they'd become friends during the short period of time that the two of them had investigated the ship. One nodded hesitantly back, unsure of what to think of his self-contained shipmate. He didn't think that Four meant him in any harm but, judging by what he'd seen in the makeshift dojo, the man was deadly. The contradiction between that ability and the relative gentleness that he'd treated One was enough to make the young man's head spin with confusion.

Three turned to leave as well, grabbing One's arm and tugging him along with him. One turned wide eyes on the gunslinger, trying to decide whether or not he needed to expend effort in an attempt to pull away. "Come on, kid," Three said when he noticed that One was staring up at him. "Someone needs to find the sleeping quarters around here."

One didn't protest and Three dropped his arm, leading the way down a hallway that the younger male didn't recognize. Judging by the cautious way he was navigating, Three hadn't been in this part of the ship yet either, which told One that the man hadn't had time to set up any traps here. Three turned right halfway down the hall, moving into a thinner hallway that had One hesitating for a heartbeat before following. "So you were the first one up, huh?" Three questioned casually, pausing in front of a lighted panel next to what appeared to be a doorway.

"Y-Yeah," One replied cautiously, muscles stiffening in anxiety. Three didn't say anything, focused on tapping a code into the panel. A red light blinked on the panel and Three frowned, trying trying a different door code.

Heart fluttering like a trapped bird inside his chest as he wondered what Three had been getting at with that question, One cautiously sidled past the older male to another door on the opposite side of the hall and a few feet forward. Behind him, Three hissed out a curse and One turned around in time to see the man punch in a code one last time. One was close enough to see the numbers and he knew, as he watched Three punch them in, that it was the wrong code. Sure enough, all Three got was a red light again. Turning away from the pad in irritation, Three asked, "And you have no memories, right?"

"None of us do," One replied, watching Three's every move in the same manner he would watch a poisonous snake.

"How do we know that they're all telling the truth?" Three challenged, stepping closer to One, who shrank back against the wall behind him.

"I saw them wake up," he offered in a soft voice. "I don't think any of them were lying." The only ones he hadn't seen roused were Two and Three, and the only one who'd been together enough to lie that he'd seen roused was Four. Somehow he doubted that Four had done that. Their sword wielding crew member wouldn't have needed them to forget who they were in order to eliminate them.

"Nobody saw you wake up," Three commented, looming over him, and One wished he could slip into the wall and disappear.

He swallowed hard and managed to squeak out, "None of us saw you wake up either."

"Touche kid," Three replied, tapping something on a keypad without looking at it. The door One was practically curled up against in an effort to escape the interrogation hissed open and he almost toppled into the room behind him, not helped by Three brushing past him. "Better find a room and get some rest," Three called to him as One turned to see him leaning against the doorway with a grin. "All that terror must be exhausting." Then he hit a button inside the room and the door hissed shut.

"That _bastard_ ," One murmured without much venom, sinking to the floor in relief. He curled up in a shaking ball for a couple minutes, burying his head against his knees as he struggled to find the strength to stand.

Anxiety was what pushed him upright. He didn't like being out in the open like this. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and his stomach twist uncomfortably. One made his way on wobbly legs to the door that Three had tried and failed to get open. His hand hovered over the keypad for a moment before he typed in 619500. The numbers felt significant for some reason, as if they stood for an important event, but he couldn't recall why. The door hissed open and One stepped into a small bedroom, pressing the button to shut and lock the door behind him. The room didn't look lived in, but One had no doubt that it was his. The code on to unlock the door had been personal, not some generic factory setting that anyone could figure out how to use.

One stepped forward, bare feet curling in the warmth of a rug, and his gaze skimmed his surroundings. There was a still packed, small black duffel sitting on the far side of the bed, out of sight of anyone in the doorway, but otherwise there was no personalization. The bed, made up like it belonged in a hotel, didn't appear to have been slept in and there were no photographs sitting on the bedside table. One pulled open the single drawer on the bedside table and pulled out a small case with a pair of glasses in them. When he lifted them to his eyes, he found that they didn't change his vision much. Probably reading glasses. He folded them back up and put them in the case, returning it to its proper place.

There were a few other drawers on the far side of the room, but all their yielded were a dusty paperback copy of _Charlotte's Web_ and an empty silver flask with a snake engraved on it. The flask was also covered in a thick layer of dust but something sloshed inside it when he shook it. One doubted that it was his. It looked like he hadn't had a chance to unpack yet, and he guessed that there were several empty sleeping quarters on board a ship of this size at all times. Whoever had been in this room before him was probably long gone. One placed the book on top of the drawers and then unscrewed the cap on the flask. It didn't smell like any alcohol he'd encountered before. Instead there was a faint hint of what he suspected was lavender, but nothing more. One frowned and screwed the cap back on. He slipped the flask back into the drawer as a wave of exhaustion hit him.

He dropped down on the bed, sighing happily when the mattress hugged his tired frame. He wiggled backwards until his head was resting on the mostly flat pillow, which had probably needed replaced a couple years ago, slipping a hand underneath it for some extra support. His fingers brushed against cool metal and he frowned. He flipped over on his stomach and pulled the object out. It was some kind of amulet, a glimmering triangle with grooves in it on a gold chain. One turned it over in his hands, looking for an inscription, but found nothing. After a moment he hung the chain around his neck, letting the amulet rest against his collarbones. He drifted off into an uneasy sleep, waking when the android announced over the PA system that they would be arriving at their destination in twenty minutes.

One found a loose shirt and a pair of pants to pull on over the jumpsuit he'd been wearing since he woke up, hiding the amulet underneath the shirt. Just looking at it made his stomach squirm, as if it was a secret that even he wasn't comfortable with. He tried not to think about that too much. There were too many unknowns rattling around already in his head. He didn't need to worry about another one.

The crew was in the mess hall, crewing on rations. It wasn't the best meal that One had ever eaten, but it silenced the gurgling of his belly. He ate quickly and kept his head down as Five chattered softly with Six. Apparently the two of them had bonded during the time that One had been interrogated by Three and sleeping restlessly in his own room. Two ate almost as fast as One did, silently watching everyone in the room, and Three settled next to Four, making little, sarcastic comments to see if he could destroy the placid man's zen. When Four twitched slightly at one of the comments, One abandoned what was left of his food and headed out of the room after Two.

The dark haired woman glanced at him curiously but remained silent, leading the way to the bridge. The android was standing patiently in front of the controls, eyes fixed blankly at the dark sky outside. When she heard their footsteps approaching, she turned and gave them a congenial smile. "We are just leaving FTL," she informed them. "We will be unable to land this ship on the planet, but we are equipped with a marauder class short journeys ship that can be taken down to the surface."

"Can you pilot it?" Two asked.

"Of course," came the unfazed reply.

"Good." Two turned to One then and ordered, "Go tell Three, Four, and Six that the four of you, along with the android, will be going down to the planet on to see if you can figure out what we're supposed to be doing there. Five and I will remain on board this ship to make see if we can make some repairs."

One nodded hesitantly and hurried back to the mess hall to repeat Two's order in a soft, hesitant voice. He waiting long enough to catch the nods of acknowledgement and then fled back to the bridge, too uncomfortable around the others to linger. He didn't feel much safer around Two and the android, but at least there were only two people to keep track of on the bridge. One entered and settled in a corner where he could keep an eye on the two figures in the room and the door without being in arm's reach of anyone, waiting for it to be time to go planetside.

Unfortunately, going planetside meant being crammed into the marauder class ship with Three, Six, and Four. One settled towards the entrance at the back, stomach churning uneasily. He wanted to lift a hand to clutch at the amulet around his neck, but he wasn't ready for anyone else to know that he had it. Two sauntered out of the ship after checking with the android, calling, "Stop staring at my ass," at Three before she was out of sight. Three chuckled as the android undocked the ship and took them down towards the green and brown planet below. One tuned out the conversation until as the android piloted them down, eyes drifting partially closed. He still felt tired, as if his restless hours of sleep hadn't helped him recover from the lingering uneasiness of waking up without his memories in a potentially dangerous situation.

For a moment, as the ship jolted to a halt, One was staring at a waiting room, exhaustion and nausea and grief twisting in a sickening ball in his stomach. Then he opened his eyes fully as sunlight poured in behind him from the opening door of the marauder class ship and found himself exactly where he should be. He stood and hurried outside before any of the others could stand. He had no desire to be trapped on a small ship while those that might mean him harm were in a position that was to their advantage. Four followed without comment, staying out of One's personal space in a way that felt deliberate. Six and Three came after them, both armed but chatting amicably. The android would stay behind to guard the ship from anyone on this planet who might think that stealing from them was a good idea.

The android had set them down right behind a warehouse with a flat roof. Four stepped by One and led the way in. They all took in the sight of rusted equipment and stacks of dusty looking boxes. Whoever lived on this planet either didn't have the money to keep the equipment in working condition or had left for better prospects long ago. From his current position, One couldn't tell whether or not the boxes had been unsealed, but he only made it two steps closer to one before a hand closed on the back of his shirt, pulling him backwards into Three. "Don't go wandering off," he ordered gruffly before releasing One's shirt and wiping his hand on his pants like One was contagious.

Footsteps approaching had everyone tensing as they turned to face the probable danger. The approaching figures were a ragtag bunch of various ages, all armed despite the fact that their clothes had been patched several times over. One found himself wondering where they'd gotten to money to purchase weapons and have them shipped all the way out to what was looking like a backwater planet. "Why are you here?" the man in the lead demanded, gun aimed squarely at Four's chest. Four didn't look at all bothered by this turn of events, but Three and Six had drawn their weapons. One realized that he'd unstrapped the pistol that Three had shoved at him when he'd slipped on the pants he was currently wearing. He'd forgotten the pistol in his room when he'd ventured out to eat. His stomach twisted uncomfortably as Four, Three, and Six exchanged a dark look. "Who are you?" the man demanded and One felt his stomach sink towards the shoes he'd found sitting underneath the duffel in his room. There was no possible way they could answer that question. None of them could even remember their own names.

"Let's just all put our guns down," he managed to waver out, fighting the urge to squirm when all eyes settled on him. He swallowed hard, shrinking in on himself while Three shifted so all One could see was his back.

"Put your gun down," Six hissed at Three, whose shoulder's stiffened. One stared at Three's back and wondered why the man was shielding him from danger since Three seemed to think One was the enemy on board the ship. " _Now_ ," Six insisted and Three must have lowered his weapon because the people that One could see from his current position also lowered their weapons.

"Come with me," the voice of the older man who'd been asking all the questions. "We can speak elsewhere."

Six and Four followed the group but Three blocked One's way forward with a scowl. "Stay out of the way and keep your mouth shut," he ordered before turning and marching after the others. One stared after him with wide eyes, legs shaking a little. He pulled in a deep breath and tried to muster up the courage to trail after Three's retreating back. Next time they arrived at some unknown planet, One was going to request to stay on board the ship.

One forced his legs to move, hurrying in the direction he'd seen Three go. Exiting the warehouse, One found himself standing in what appeared to be a compound. People were hurrying in various directions, though most of them gave him a wide berth. A young woman with brown-blonde curls, who One thought had been with the group who'd intercepted he and his crewmates in the warehouse, smiled and beckoned him over with one of her hands. As One approached her, he noticed that she was wearing a pendant identical to the one hidden underneath his shirt. He wanted to ask her about it, but the words got stuck in his throat. The young woman didn't seem to notice, slipping her arm through his and tugging him towards a building a few feet away.

"I wondered if you'd gotten lost looking at something," she said, voice bright and full of life. "I figured I'd better stick around to give you directions when I noticed you'd gone missing." She paused in front of a door and gave him a conspiratorial grin, adding, "Besides, us kids have to stick together." One, to his surprise, found himself grinning back. The young woman's smile widened and she pulled the door open, guiding him inside to a table where Four, Six, and Three were sitting across from the older man who'd been in charge of the group who'd greeted them and a couple others. The chairs were taken but One was content to remain just within Four's line of sight, standing next to the young woman who'd guided him here.

"Our ship was attacked by raiders," Three was saying, casually drinking whatever the locals had served him.

"Sounds scary," the girl murmured in One's year and he nodded automatically. "So how long are you going to be around?"

"Probably not long," One admitted, blinking rapidly when another face with straight, honey colored hair superimposed itself over the face of the young woman he was talking to for a moment. One fought to hide his confusion and struggled to remember what he'd been saying before the disorienting hallucination. "We, uh, need to resupply and then we have a couple shipments to deliver."

"Oh." She looked disappointed and One wondered if there were any other kids her age around the makeshift town for her to be around.

"Sorry," he found himself apologizing and she smiled.

"It's okay." They stood awkwardly side by side as the older man informed Four, Six, and Three that they were welcome to any supplies the mining settlement could spare, but then they needed to leave.

"Why?" Six questioned, tone concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"Ferrous Corporation found an asteroid belt full of rare minerals," the old man said. "In order to mine the asteroids, they are required by law to have a livable settlement on the nearest planet. This one."

"They gave us an ultimatum," a woman with streaks of grey through her brown hair told them. "Either we leave within seven days or they will remove us. That deadline passed yesterday."

"How are they going to remove you?" Six asked, leaning his arms on the table.

"There's this crew called the Raza," the young woman next to One spoke up. "Rumor says that they're some kind of alien lizard beings that can rip people apart with their bare hands."

"What they are doesn't matter," the woman with grey streaks interrupted. "What matters is that they do Ferrous Corp's dirty work, eliminating anyone that stands in the way of their greed."

"We have a shipment of weapons coming," the old man said in a tone that didn't have room for interruptions. "We're going to fight, and we don't want all of you trapped in our battle."

"Even though the extra help would be nice," the woman woman next to One murmured, twisted her amulet delicately between two fingers.

One looked down at the ground as Six thanked the old man for the supplies and the consideration, wondering if the girl beside him really wanted extra help or if she just wanted extra bodies to throw at the enemy. The thought didn't have any reason to show up, considering how she'd behaved around him, but it lingered as he helped Three, Four, and Six load supplies into the Marauder, Six's name for the tiny ship, under the watchful eye of the android. It became such a consuming strand of thinking that he struggled to force a smile on his face when the young woman waved goodbye to him just before the door to the Marauder closed and the android piloted them back up to the ship.

Two and Five were waiting for them when they docked, the peacock haired girl bouncing in anticipation. "How did it go?" she asked eagerly as soon as they stepped off board the Marauder.

"We met with the locals and brought back some supplies," Six replied. "I think we're supposed to be delivering our cargo to these people." Three snorted and Four had already vanished down a hall so Two turned to One, obviously expecting a second opinion.

"They said they were expecting a shipment of weapons," he offered and Two nodded once.

"We'll discuss the situation after we've eaten," she said and turned on her heel, heading back towards the the mess hall. One followed on her heels, Five walking next to him, while Three and Six unloaded their new supplies.

The meal was a silent affair until Three asked, "So how are we gonna decided what to do with our shipment? Are we gonna put it to a vote? Because if so, I vote we keep the weapons."

"We can't do that to those people," One protested and then shrank down in his chair when Three scowled at him.

"I agree with One," Five chimed in, swinging her feet back and forth underneath the table.

"I don't think you or One gets a vote," Three challenged.

"Why shouldn't they?" Six asked. "They're both members of the crew."

"They're both children," Three shot back. "I vote that neither one gets a vote."

"We'll take half the weapons down to the planet and keep half to sell," Two said, her tone making it clear that her decision was final. She stood, leaving her plate where it was, and headed for the door, adding, "And if we were taking a vote, everyone gets one regardless of age." She was gone before anyone could protest.


	4. Three: Monsters

Six and One carried the last of the weapon crates on board the Marauder while Three lounged in one of the chairs, spinning idly and grinning at them. "You guys done yet?" Three drawled. "Because I'm ready to get this guilt fueled charity trip over with."

"We would have been done faster if you would have helped," Six replied tartly and Three barely resisted the urge to laugh in delight at the opportunity the other man had presented to him.

"I voted against doing this, so it would have been kind of hypocritical of me to help," he drawled spinning the chair around and trying to ignore the little voice in his head insisting that he needed to watch One at all times. It didn't work and he found himself spinning back around as One and Six settled the last crate carefully in place.

"Get buckled in, kid," Six told One gently. "Because we're ready to go."

Three found himself watching intently as One nodded and crossed hesitantly to one of the chairs across the aisle from him, settling in a adjusting his seat belt. Something about that kid just brought out a protective streak in Three that he would have denied even under the threat of death. To himself, not the kid. Unlike the other people on this ship, One was someone that Three could see himself giving up his life for without hesitation. Six headed for the front of the Marauder, settling down in the pilot's seat. Three wasn't sure how the other man had convinced Two and the Android to let him drive, or even that he could drive, but he wasn't going to complain. The Android annoyed the fuck out of him.

"Six, have you left yet?" Two's voice asked over their comms.

"No, we're still docked," Six replied, lifting his hands up off the controls.

"Good, because I think there's something you all need to see."

"Okay," Six said, standing.

"Whoa, whoa," Three protested as One unbuckled his seatbelt and stood as well. "We just got all the guns loaded on the Marauder so we could finish this crappy charity trip and now you wanna interrupt us?"

"This is important," Two said, tone tight and frustrated. "The Android has managed to uncover some information about us."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so, darling," Three drawled, just to annoy her. Then he turned to Six and One, both of whom were staring at him in various levels of disbelief, and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's go." Six let out what sounded like a long-suffering sigh and headed back on board their ship but One hesitated, eyes fixed on Three. "Come on, kid. Let's go." He guided One out of the Marauder by a heavy hand on the back of his neck, ignoring the kid's flinch. One had been anxious since the first time Three had seen him and, since it wasn't getting any better, the man had elected to ignore the twitching and behave like normal, or what he thought normal was since he didn't remember anything about his past life.

The three of them joined Two, Five, Four, and the Android on the bridge. Five's face was pale, as if she'd just woken up to find herself in the middle of a nightmare, while Two and Four looked just as emotionless as ever. "Go ahead," Two told the Android once they were all assembled. "Tell them what you've found."

"Okay," the Android said brightly, moving so that she was standing next to one of the screens on the bridge. "I managed to recover some of the information stored on the ship's computer about the crew."

"Well, get on with it," Three prodded, folding his arms over his chest while One shifted nervously from foot to foot in front of him.

"Alright," the Android agreed amicably, and the screen came alive behind her, revealing a rap sheet with Three's face on it. "Marcus Boone. Murder, assault, kidnapping, piracy," she recited calmly before the image changed to Six. "Griffin Jones. Murder, assault, smuggling." Six let out a soft, startled breath but the Android had already moved on. "Jace Corso," she said as the next image appeared. This one looked an awful lot like One, but something was wrong. Three frowned at the image as the Android recited, "Murder, assault, kidnapping, trafficking, theft." Three's eyes widened as he suddenly realized that the man in the picture looked a lot older then the boy trembling next to him. One's face had gone as pale as milk and his eyes were wide as he stared at the screen. His breath was coming out in tiny, strained sounding gasps, and Three found himself suddenly ignoring everyone around him as he focused on the kid.

"Kid, you okay?" he asked gruffly, reaching out a hand with the intent to shake One out of whatever panic he'd fallen into.

Four slapped Three's hand away before it could even come into contact with the kid's shoulder. "Don't touch him," the other man said, tone slightly disapproving. "You might make it worse."

"What's going on?" Five asked, voice going high with worry as she stared over at One with concern.

"Panic attack," Four replied simply.

"What do we do?" Five's voice was getting increasingly worried with each second that passed.

"I suggest that you try talking to him," the Android said, voice still calm. "Maybe you can remind him that he's safe here."

Three stared blankly at the Android, feeling more helpless than ever. He didn't know what to say to the kid, especially when it was pretty clear that One had been trying to pass himself off as someone that he wasn't. Luckily, Five didn't have that problem. "Hey, it's okay," she was saying earnestly to One. "None of us care about what you may or may not have done before we lost all our memories. We just care about _you._ Besides, I'm sure I've down some terribly things that we'll hear about in a couple minutes." Three snorted at the thought of Five doing anything horrible. The girl was such a fucking ray of sunshine that it was difficult to believe that she had ever done anything worse than cheat on a test. One stared at her with a horribly blank look on his face and the girl fell silent, chewing on her lower lip as she thought.

"Maybe we should give him a moment to calm down alone," Six suggested after a brief pause, reaching out to place a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder.

"But he can't leave me alone with all of you," Five protested, even though she didn't shrug off Six's hand.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Three protested indignantly. "I thought you said that it didn't matter what we did before we lost our memories."

"I don't," Five replied, folding her arms over her chest. "But that doesn't mean that I want to be stuck in the middle of space with a bunch of _adults_." She said the word adults like it was some kind of curse word and Six didn't even try to stop his smile. Three's mouth moved wordlessly, trying to figure out what to say to that, and Five lifted a hand to muffle her giggles at his facial expression.

"D-Don't worry," a frail, soft voice stuttered and all faces turned to look at a still pale One. "I won't leave you a-alone with them."

"Good," Five chirped, brightening considerably and bouncing forward to wrap One up in a hug. The kid flinched, startled, and then carefully hugged the girl back. Five beamed, resting her head against his chest for a minute before she pulled away and settled next to him, bouncing lightly on her toes.

"How are you feeling?" the Android inquired, drawing One's attention to her.

"I'm f-fine," One replied, voice wavering a little.

The Android didn't look convinced, but she didn't press. Instead she said, "I have been programed with an expertise in psychology to better help the crew of the ship. Should you feel the need to speak to someone, please feel free to confide in me. I promise that I will keep everything said between us confidential." Then she turned to Two and asked, "May I continue?"

Two glanced at One, who nodded, and then turned back to the Android. "Please do."

The image on the screen changed to that of Four, who didn't look at all surprised to see an image of him shot on a grainy security camera. "Ryo Tetsudo," the Android recited. "Murder, assault, piracy." The image changed again, this time showing a security feed image of Two. "Portia Lin. Murder, assault, arson, theft, piracy." Two's rap sheet faded away, replaced by a collage of all five mugshots that had been displayed earlier. Five was conspicuous in the group only because she was absent from recitation of her criminal charges, which wasn't all that surprising. Unlike One, who moved like he was constantly readying himself for a fight, she bounced around like the innocent little angel she was, attempting to spread optimism simply by being in one spot. Three hadn't been wrong in his assumption earlier that Five wasn't a known criminal.

Two turned to face the others then, something pinched in her expression, as if she had come to a displeasing conclusion. "The Raza isn't a race of aliens," she said. "The Raza is the name of this ship."

"So," Three said after taking a moment to absorb the new information. "We're a ship full of mercenaries for hire. That explains the criminal rap sheets, but it doesn't explain what _she's_ doing here." He gestured towards Five with a hand and the bright haired girl frowned at him.

"She could be a stowaway," Six suggested. "I'm sure there are plenty of ways to sneak on to a ship from a space station and, judging by our supply levels, we were on a station not long before we went into our stasis pods."

"Or she could be the Raza's mechanic," Two pointed out, staring down the rest of the crew, who stared blankly at her. "She's been making repairs to the ship while the rest of you were down talking to the locals."

"Speaking of the locals..." Three began, seeing an opportunity to press his point and taking it. "They said the Raza were coming to take them out for Ferrous Corp, which clears up the issue of what we're supposed to be doing here."

"I don't think that we should go back on our decision," Six said.

"It seems dishonorable," Four agreed, much to Three's surprise. Four had been keeping his thoughts to himself, and Three had expected the other man to continue to keep his mouth shut. Now he had at least two votes against his purposed change of plans already, which wasn't a promising start.

"How can it be dishonorable if we never told them that we were going to bring them any weapons?" Three protested and Four's eyes darkened slightly.

"We are turning our backs on people who will suffer sooner or later for attempting to survive and, in doing so, we are taking away any chance they have of making the conflict a fair fight." Four's voice was cold, and Three got the uncomfortable feeling that the other man expected better from him.

"We shouldn't turn our backs on them," One chimed in, voice soft but steady.

_Great_ , Three thought in complete exasperation. _That was three votes against him, since Two decided to give the little kids, who shouldn't even be on board the ship, the right to vote._ Five chimed in, agreeing, unsurprisingly, with One. Three tried to be angry with the kids, really he did, but he couldn't quite muster up the proper level of anger. His only real irritation was focused on Four and Six, who were function adults that should have understood the consequences that might come with their decision not to act as they had been paid to. Ferrous Corp had likely hired them to eliminate the opposition to their takeover, and the higher ups wouldn't be happy to be double crossed. They'd come after the Raza, putting both the kids in serious danger, but Three was apparently the only person who'd considered that option.

"Then it's settled," Two said. "Four, Six, Three, and One will take half the weapons down to the colony, as we originally planned. Once the delivery is made, we can leave them to carry out the fight against Ferrous Corp on their own."

"Whatever you say, boss lady," Three drawled, ignoring the irritated scowl Two shot him. "Come on, kid. Let's get this pity fueled trip over with." One startled a bit when Three slung an arm around the kid's shoulders, but didn't fight when Three pulled him away from the bridge and towards the Marauder. Four and Six trailed after them, so Three resisted the urge to mention that the mugshot of Jace Corso showed a man considerably older than the boy walked silently next to him. Three wanted the truth from the kid, but he didn't want to accidentally put One in danger.

The trip from the _Raza_ to the planet's surface on board the Marauder was taken in complete silence, something that Three was grateful for. It gave him time to consider the possible outcomes of what they were about to do. Best case scenario was that they delivered the weapons and got the hell out of dodge before Ferrous Corp realized they'd been double crossed. The worst case scenario was that Ferrous Corp showed up in the middle of this transaction and attempted to kill them all. Three wanted to hope for the best, but he was pragmatic enough to prepare for the worst. Should Ferrous Corp representatives show up to claim what they believed was theirs, his first priority was to get One out of danger. Six would have to go with the kid so the two could get off planet. While Six and One were escaping, Three and Four would have to hold back the enemy, but Three was confident in his own skills and Four seemed capable enough. If they were lucky, they might actually manage come out of the mess alive and the _Raza_ could come back for them. If they weren't as lucky...well, One would at least be safe, and Five as well.

The Marauder landed smoothly, just as Three finished his planning. "Alright," he said, standing and clapping his hands once, which made One flinch, "Let's get moving."

"What's the rush?" Six asked, standing and stretching a little. "It's not like we have anywhere else to be right now."

"Yeah, we do," Three retorted. "Anywhere but here. And the sooner, the better." _Before Ferrous Corp realizes what we're doing_ , Three added in his head before turning his attention to One, knowing that the kid would be the easiest to get moving. "Come on, One. Let's get unloading." One twitched a little, looking unnecessarily anxious, but hurried over to help.

"Alright," Six said, looking resigned. "Four and I will go explain what's going on to the locals while you two unload." He brushed rather roughly by Three, looking irritated, Four following him. The blade wielding man hesitated to give One an assessing look, waiting for the kid to nod once before following Six out the door. Three had a brief chance to feel irritated, it wasn't like he was planning on hurting the kid, before Four was gone, leaving Three and One alone with the weapons crates.

"Grab the other end," Three ordered gruffly, bending down to grab one end of a crate, and his vision flashed. _He was watching as One hesitated, anxiety alive and well in his eyes, before descending down the ramp and obediently grabbing one end of a crate. The two rolled the heavy crate up the ramp and into the ship's storage area before doing the same with the next few. They worked in silence, but the fear never left the kid's eyes. Three was surprised that One hadn't bolted yet, despite the fact that the Android smiling cheerfully in front of the ship would stop the kid before he got further than a couple steps._

"Three?" One's nervous voice had Three shaking free of whatever he'd just seen.

"Let's get this over with," Three said gruffly and One nodded, lifting his end of the crate. The two emptied the _Marauder_ of her cargo in silence, and Three was relieved that he didn't have any more strange visions, or flashbacks or whatever that had been. They were just unloading the last box when Six joined them, Four conspicuous by his absence.

"The locals want to offer us a drink when we're finished, as a sign of their thanks," Six said . "They appreciate us sparing some of our cargo to help their cause.

"Tell them no," Three snapped at the other man. He could feel his anxiety rising with each minute he spent stuck on this dead end planet, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Ferrous Corp figured out that they'd been double crossed. Since they were the crew of the Raza, they were likely hunted already, but having a megacorp screaming for your death was probably a lot more dangerous than having some ordinary crime boss putting out a hit.

"Four and I already said yes," Six replied, tone thick with disapproval as he helped One unload the last weapon crate. "It would be rude to go back on that now."

"We're killers for hire. Being rude is hardly the worst thing we've ever done."

"We're not just dumping the weapons and leaving," Six said, voice firm. "We'll go get a quick drink, do a tiny bit of socializing, and be gone on the Raza before they ever realize who we really are. Now let's get moving. The sooner we finish socializing, the sooner you can go back to cleaning your guns on board our ship." The dark skinned man turned and marched away before Three could retort, leaving his irritated crew member to seethe as he herded One after Six.

The colonists were practically humming with excitement, and Three could tell by looking at the bottles that they had cracked open the good stuff. He didn't care. He took the glass shoved into his hand and mumbled a thank-you, leaning against the wall nearest to the door. The blonde girl from earlier had pulled One aside and was chattering animatedly to him, hands waving with excitement. One was watching her intently, brown eyes focused intently, as if he was trying to remember her from somewhere. Three wondered if One had known her, or someone like her, before their memories had been wiped. Maybe he'd had a pretty little blonde girlfriend before he'd ended up on the Raza posing as someone he wasn't. Three took a sip of his drink, frowning a little at the taste, as he watched Four nod seriously when the woman next to him thanked him. Six was being a social butterfly, wandering around talking to people, just like Three had feared he would behave. They would be lucky if they managed to get back to their ship in the next hour, and the delay might cost them.

The door next to Three was flung open and a woman practically sprinted inside. She was gasping for breath, her ruddy cheeks flushed, and her hair had come loose from its ponytail. "Mary, what's wrong?" one of the men closest to her asked and she stared at him with wide eyes.

"It's Ferrous Corp," she gasped out, just as Three had been afraid she would. "One of their ships just came into our orbit."


End file.
